Gunpowder and Kitty Litter
by i ve landed
Summary: On a rainy day, the handlers try to get the girls to work together. Little do they knew, they're about to get a new member. Rated K for handling of weapons, but otherwise this is a very light-hearted one-shot.


"Gunpowder and Kitty Litter"

one-shot

By Sayachimaera

_Gunslinger Girl_

Rated K+

Disclaimer: I do not own _Gunslinger Girl_. The characters belong to Yu Aida.

It was raining today. The weather report had predicted a temperate, sunny afternoon, but no. It rained. Seeing it as a training opportunity, Jean insisted a joint training mission. The girls would all work together to achieve an objective.

Giuseppe had agreed almost immediately. Something had been off between him and Henrietta, and he suspected the new girl had something to do with it.

The arrival of Petrushka had caused a stir amongst the girls and handlers, both. On one hand, the Social Welfare Agency had been given a versatile weapon. The teenager could look older or younger, whatever the mission deemed appropriate. Her prosthetics were the next generation of cyborg technology, which gave the first generation handlers an idea of what they could look forward to when their own girls required new limbs or, more likely, were spent. Alessandro, new to fold, had much to learn about being a handler and a member of Section Two.

The girls, naturally, welcomed the new comer. Triela immediately took to having another older girl in the dormitory while the other girls learned what they could from their interactions with the red head. They took turns, teaching Petra how to advance on a target or acquire information. Still, time with each other did nothing for the loneliness each cyborg experienced daily.

It was no secret: the young charges of the Social Welfare Agency led difficult lives, often cut short by addiction to the medication used for conditioning or the violence they faced in their line of work. While the agency was set up so that the girls could connect with each other and their handlers, the doctors discovered over time that this failed to fill that gap in their social development.

So when a wet ball of fur, with four legs, small pointy ears and a long tail meandered into the range, Giuseppe knew the handlers were in for some trouble.

The brown kitten with black stripes strolled casually down the labyrinth of concrete, dirt and gravel. Guiseppe watched as it neared Rico, her dark blond hair flying from the force of the AK-47 in her hands. "Hallway one is clean. Henrietta, you're clear," The girl whispered into her radio. Her eyes focused on the entry points, the girl failed to notice the kitten rubbing itself against her leg. Guiseppe could only think how proud Jean must have been that his cyborg had avoided a potential distraction that could have compromised the mission.

Unhappy with the lack of affection, the kitten continued to walk through the training grounds, where it was almost trampled by a very focused Henrietta, running with her machine gun against her chest and pointed to the sky. She leaned against a wall before taking a peak around the corner in search of potential enemies. "Henrietta," Triela whispered, "at your three o'clock in five...four...three...two..."

Guiseppe watched as his cyborg sprinted out in front shooting the target, her foot unknowingly making contact with the kitten's tail. In less than a second, she advanced up the hallway, tucking herself into another corner. "Target eliminated. Petra, you're clear."

The thin redhead sprinted up the clearing, past the other girls who were preparing cover fire. Looking nowhere but head of her, the sixteen year old failed to notice the obstacle before it met with her shin. The effects were immediate as the teenager fell to the ground, landing on her chest and trapping the kitten's leg under her own. "Petra's down!" Henrietta hissed over the radio.

"I got it!" Triela whispered immediately, leaping over Petrushka and sprinting a hundred yards before turning right and taking out the last target. "All clear," The blond mumbled as she turned the corner to see the mess of pale limbs and orange streaks, wet and covered in mud. Henrietta was helping her up already while Rico was just meeting up with them.

Guiseppe held his breath as his brother cursed, obviously upset that things didn't go as smoothly as planned. "Alessandro, you need to increase her training," Jean glared at smirking man who was watching his cyborg try cleaning herself up in the rain, only to fail.

"It wasn't her fault, Jean."

"Like hell it wasn't. She hesitated--"

"--She tripped."

"She's clumsy."

"On a cat."

The last tidbit of reason from his brother's lips caused Jean, and everyone for that matter, to look at the center of the training maze. Sure enough, the girls were all cooing over the pathetic, wet animal.

"Eta kotchka! No vonder pochyemu eta ploha," The red head whined, petting the kitten.

"Do you think Jean will let us keep it?" Henrietta asked, shyly touching the animal before looking at a giggling Rico, already entranced by the animal.

As if on cue, Jean smacked his forehead, causing Guiseppe to chuckle. It wasn't for another couple of minutes that Jean spoke over the radio. "You have a week. If the cat proves too distracting, it's out of here, got that?"

His answer was a chorus of feminine squeals of delight, a sound that caused every handler's forehead to wrinkle in both skepticism and amusement. The moment was interrupted by Olga, whose deep chuckle challenged the rain in a volume contest. "What do we use for kitty litter? Gunpowder?" The remark earned another round of laughs from Hilshire and Guiseppe, both of whom went back to watching the girls still gushing over their new friend, out in the rain.

Jean sighed. "Get them all in before they get sick. And someone talk to the lab and see if we can borrow the litter from their hazmat supplies."


End file.
